If you get arrested in southern Bruce or Grey County, you will no longer be heading to Walkerton for a bail hearing after this week.
The provincial government has decided all bail hearings that would have normally gone through the Walkerton courthouse will now be held in Owen Sound court as of January 19.
Saugeen Shores Police Service Chief Dan Rivett says the move was made without warning or consultation, pointing out he was informed by letter earlier this month and was not aware it was even being considered.
He says the financial implications could be huge, because they used to be able to transport arrested individuals to Walkerton for bail hearings with on-duty officers who were already travelling there for business before the courts.
But now Rivett says they will likely have to call in officers on overtime for bail hearings.
"Quite often, we'll have officers already going to court and they'll transport. So if those officers are still going to Walkerton to court, we'll have to call out other people on overtime to transport people from [Saugeen Shores] over to Owen Sound courts for bails," says Rivett.
Rivett says he will be meeting on Thursday with police chiefs from Hanover, West Grey and Owen Sound, as well as the detachment commanders for Bruce Peninsula and South Bruce OPP to discuss how they will be moving forward.